..... a few lists

Oh man how time seems to stop and last forever!  I cannot believe I've only been here for just over one week! That cannot be right! (I mean, look, I'm not complaining about it, I'm just saying... ) I'm not sure how well y'all know me but if there is one thing I LOVE to do, is it to make a good list.  To- do list; places to go list; movie list; book list; "things in Uganda that are from America" list.  It doesn't matter what the list is for-- I love to make them. There is nothing quite like crossing off something that somehow makes it more fulfilling than it already is.... ya know what I'm saying?

So, due to my love of lists, I decided to make you TWO lists: 1. My favorite things (about Uganda of course) and 2. Lessons learned.  So let's get on with it!

My Favorite Things:
1. Butterflies!  I'll take a picture of them someday but there are a million butterflies here... that was one bit of wildlife I was not expecting.  They seem to me to be a gentle reminder of God's infinite creations and His love (probably because of the Children's song "He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings....").



2. Keeping on topic, BUGS BUGS BUGS!!! I'm not sure what my fascination is with African insects but I love them... and I have to take pictures of them..

<--- Check out this cool caterpillar we saw walking just the other day.



3. Making people laugh.  When I can make a Ugandan laugh... not laugh AT me but laugh WITH me, then I feel good (If the song started running through your head just now, we are bosom buddies).... Yesterday, I was talking with Josephine about her students that drive her CRAZY sometimes.  We talked about how kids can be and Brady walks over... "Whatcha talking about?"  "Killing children" I said nonchalantly.  Brady looks and says "What?" and Josephine starts laughing.  YES, I thought, I made a joke! HA! :)

4. Last but not least, I love it when the professors come into town.  From Thursday till tonight, our two professors, Comrade Dan and Mike, have been with us.  It is so wonderful to learn from their vast knowledge not only about experiments and development and Africa but also about life.  They shared with us the long journey to them becoming professors, we watched them in action as they met with UNICEF officials, and they taught us valuable like lessons like how video games can be addicting ("Pixar Cars should be called Pixar Crack" - Comrade Dan).

The best part about having the professors come into town---- FANCY EATING! :)  We ate out for just about every meal and boy, was it good food.  Ghanaian food, the BEST Indian food I have EVER had in my entire life (seriously though, it was heaven wrapped up in a slice of naan), game meat like crocodile and springbok (the boys said the best was the kudu wrapped in bacon) (see picture -->), and hot fudge sundaes. Now it is back to homemade curries and pasta..... :)





5. Just as a PS.  I love walking in the RAIN. It was lightly raining when we got out of church today and so Peter, Matt and I decided to walk home.  Of course, as soon as we left it started to rain harder and harder but it was worth it.  I LOVE walking in the RAIN.... there is something childish, renewing, and artistic about it.  We of course got DRENCHED because it is about a ten-minute walk home.




                                                                   ..... to be continued.........


Lessons Learned:
1. Debating without trying to win, or without getting angry, is the best kind of debating.  Simply an exchange of intellectual conversation and facts and different viewpoints.  We had about a two hour "debate" about US businesses overseas and who should regulate them, the upcoming election, homosexuality and gay marriage. We all finished feeling just a little bit smarter, a little bit more well-rounded.

2. Men and women are not that different... and yet we are worlds apart. I've spent the last week trying to put my finger on what exactly is different between men and women and .... ladies and gentlemen, the difference between men and women, illustrated in a story:

Comrade Dan is telling us about how his brother proposed.  His brother and then-girlfriend went to a restaurant and he gave the waiter a dozen roses so that throughout the night, the waiter would bring his wife a rose. On the last rose was tied a diamond ring. (Please note, at no time during the story telling does Comrade Dan tell us what restaurant they were eating at, when this took place, his brother's relationship history with this woman, where in the restaurant they were, what the dinner conversation was about, or what his brother said in the proposal...  NONE of these "important" details were mentioned.)  So, he tells this story and there is silence afterwards.  The only sound is me, going "Aw... I just got goosebumps. That is so cute... I mean, I didn't really get goosebumps cause that would be silly [voice trails off].... "  I stopped when I realized that NO ONE ELSE was reacting!  There was no collective "AWWWW", no commentary on how romantic that was, or how I would've liked it like this... nothing.  I guess men just don't react the same way women do.  

All I can say is that I have learned that if I end up having all boys for children, and I am surrounded by this thing called testosterone, I will HAVE to have me some girlfriends before I start making up some imaginary friends to talk to.

 3. UNICEF is a really good organization... and some NGOs need to be held more responsible for what they are doing.

Our contact at UNICEF told us the following story: One day, UNICEF received a text message (part of a new U-Report program they have started up here... it really is amazing! You can read more about what it is by reading this U-Report article) from a person saying that there is a 6 year old boy abandoned by his father, his mother has died.  Apparently the villagers were leaving their left-over food outside the house for the boy to eat.  When UNICEF arrived, the boy was very sick.  They were able to find him a good home up North and he is doing well.  YAY UNICEF.

The distrubing part of this story is that before calling UNICEF, the villager had called two NGOS.... one of which was a NGO focusing on children.  They said they couldn't help because they didn't have the money. The other NGO said "we don't work with children"..... SERIOUSLY!?!?! Find your humanity people, we are talking about a little boy!

Anyways, that was a good reminder for me that not all NGOs are good... and that sometimes big organizations like UNICEF really are making a difference.

4.  The last lesson I have learned this week is that experiments can be kind of exciting... I might actually be liking this whole "surveys- renting spaces- creating controls and treatments- randomizing populations" thing.  I mean, I used to think that research meant observing the people and interviewing them. Now, I have realized that the BEST COMBINATION EVER would be qualitative data supported by scientific research (meaning you use the scientific method to test a hypothesis).  Now let's just see if I can get the lingo down and learn how to use Excel.......

...... to be continued..........

Here's to ONE WEEK DOWN, ELEVEN TO GO! :)
Corrine

Oh... Picture of the week:  We got to help out with the Polio/Measles vaccinations at a local health clinic.... The Church volunteered us.  This is me administering the Polio vaccine to the kids (just two drops in their mouth).  Those poor kids were SO scared... even of the drops. I think they heard kids screaming from the next partition over and it freaked them out.  I switched later on and helped hold the kids while they got the Measles shot :(

I have never done anything like that before and it was a WONDERFUL experience.  I'm glad I got to work with a wonderful nurse named Ruthy who was at the clinic from 9am till 6pm Sunday giving out vaccines.  I'm grateful for agencies like USAID that donated those vaccines for these kids.  And I'm glad I got to do something worthwhile with my time here.

the weekend

Important administrative detail: My sister kindly informed me that approximately 80% of my blog posts started with the word "so".... so, I made a concerted effort NOT to repeat that pattern.

Now for the actual blog post.  I have officially been in Uganda for a little less than 3 whole days.  It is crazy because it feels like it has been much, much longer.   This is definitely turning out to be a TOTALLY different experience than last summer one.  For starters, we have a place all to ourselves-- oh! I'll show you some pictures!

HERE IT IS! HOME SWEET HOME! (at least for a couple more weeks until the rest of the group arrives and we have to leave) 

Our lovely living room. I love the fake plants on the right. 

THE KITCHEN! I think it might be bigger than mine in Provo :)  

OH the bathroom. I don't think I'll ever get used to cold showers...... ever.  

"Peter and Matt's Office Space by Day! Corrine's Bedroom by Night!"

My roommates bedroom... I haven't seen any more than this... I'm not sure I want to.  Boys. Gross. :)

Another big difference between Ghana and here are my roommates... Last year I had two wonderful sisters of mine-- Michelle and Deidre-- living with me; sharing stories of missions and singing sappy songs from musicals while doing the dishes.  I'm not so sure my roommates this summer would sing sappy songs with me although they did say they would listen to the new Justin Bieber single.  Anyways, get ready because now is the time you to meet ....... "THE ROOMMATES", or as they want to be called... "THE MEN"!

Say HELLO to Matthew.  Well, he goes by Matt but people here have a hard time grasping the shortened name so he's now going by Matthew.  He's from California, just south of San Francisco.  He is 24 years old. (boy, I hope I'm getting all this information right :)) Matt I think is a Political Science major. He is really cool.  He loves PhD comics, development and his girlfriend Elizabeth.  He served his mission in Argentina but is getting a little rusty on his Espanol.  He knows A LOT about development so I love talking to him about it! 

He's a pretty relaxed person and loves Mango Tang (you know, the orange drink Tang but mango flavored).  This picture is of him eating a grasshopper-- I think he liked it, and isn't his beard FABULOUS?!

This is Peter.  He is 25 years old and is from the City of the Salt Lake, Utah.

Peter really enjoys listening to Radio Talk from WNYC, opening packages from his girlfriend Kate, and cooking.  He served his mission in South Africa so I tell myself not to get jealous of how at ease he is with Africans-- he has 2+ years on me!  Peter just graduated from BYU so he's more of an employee on this trip than a student, that's why he's the BOSS.  Peter is also the Boss because he has a lot of development experience. 

Peter looks so fancy in this picture because we were walking home from church.  

HELLOOOO  BRADY... or as the Ugandans call him... BREADLY :)  They have just as hard of a time with his name as they do mine.  Brady is from Colorado though I think he's moved around a bit in his life.  He is 24 years old and an Economics major.  This is his first time traveling abroad.  He is really liking it I think.  He loves to run, watch Dennis the Menace, and write poetry (just kidding but he did write a fabulous poem this evening).  Brady does not have a girlfriend to love but don't worry, there are plenty of African women who are enjoying flirting with him.  We like to say that Brady may not speak Lugandan yet, but he does speak the language of love.  

This is a picture of Brady with his fried grasshopper he's about to eat.  

Well, now that you have seen the house, met the roommates, let's talk about the rest of the weekend.  Peter got a call on Friday saying there was a Young Single Adult activity at the church building on Saturday.  I was pretty excited to go-- I guess there are a lot of YSAs here in Ntinda.  We arrived a little early on Saturday so we could help make the food. It was fun! The girls were SO helpful in teaching us Lugandan words for all the foods, making us feel right at home, and keeping us laughing.  (They also make some kick-butt food! Don't worry... I got the recipe.)  After we made the food, it was time for the spiritual thought which ended up being a lesson on modesty, love and marriage.  It was nice to know that YSAs in Africa have the same concerns about gold-diggers, having too many choices, and low confidence as YSAs in America do.  :)  Seriously, you gotta watch out for those gold-diggers.  

After the thought it decided to down pour *cue "Bless the rain down in Africa song"*  We finally were able to leave the church building and head down to the Health Club where the food and the pool were waiting for us. HOLLA!  I did not bring a swimsuit so I did not go swimming but it sure was fun watching Brady, Matt, and Peter playing in the pool with the others; teaching them pool games, teaching some even how to swim.  I opted on sitting in the shade with some FABULOUS women who willing danced with me when the DJ played a good song..... They weren't as excited as I was when he played "Baby" by my favorite Justin but oh well.  :)

We saw all of our friends again at church today and I was uplifted and strengthened by the testimonies of the members in this branch.  They are all amazing.  We talked a lot about temples in Relief Society (the third hour block for those non-Mormons out there.  If you want to know more about our church meetings or temples, visit our church's website).  Anyways, the closest temple to here is in South Africa-- a two and a half day trip!  But still, despite that disadvantage, they all had such conviction to go to the temple and such strong testimonies that it truly was the House of the Lord.  I was grateful my conscience was clear because I went to the temple at least once a week;  how guilty I would feel if I lived 5 minutes away from the temple and  didn't go while these people recognize more than I the importance of this Holy House.

Anyhoo, I think this blog post is sufficiently long so I am going to end it here with just a simple wish that everyone has a wonderful week!  Our professors, Dan and Mike, are coming in on Wednesday.  I'm excited to see them and learn more about the research I get to help them with... oh! That reminds me! One last miracle-- because I am coming here early, I get to not only help out on my professors research, which gives me VALUABLE experience.... I also get all my food and travel compensated for the work I'm doing.  WHAT A BLESSING!!!

Okay for reals, until next time!

Corrine 

Getting ready to eat the grasshoppers! AH! I sadly could not get the video uploaded but  needless to say , my first attempt involved some screaming, some jumping up and down and spitting out the grasshopper.  I tried again and got it down.... barely :)  But hey, it really wasn't that bad tasting.

summer

Everyone asks you what you are going to do now that you have graduated.  Normally I joke around and say that I don't know. To be honest, I've never been much of a long-term planner... and it's starting to show.  I always have to know what I'm doing today, or tomorrow, but after that, I like the mystery.  

  

side note: there really is something to keeping the 

path of life unwritten or perhaps writing ten different

 ways that your life could end up. Sure it can be

 scary sometimes but more in a

 "sky-driving-is-so-scary-but-such-an-adrenaline-rush" 

kind of way. 

So while I may not know exactly what my future looks like six months from now, I do know how I'll be spending the next three months of my life... and that is what I'm going to tell you about ... not so you can be insanely jealous (though it's understandable if you are), but so that you can understand what this summer is really supposed to be: the period of finest development, perfection, or beauty previous to any decline. (let's face it, once you hit 25, it all starts to go downhill! [insert eye rolls from anyone older than 40 reading this])

This summer, before my big-kid-life is forced to start, I will get to spend it refining my development, my perfection, and my beauty (all both inside and out) in three of the greatest places on earth: WASHINGTON DC, NEW YORK CITY, and AFRICA!

Granted, I'll only be in DC for two days but I'm hoping those days will bring clarity into what my future looks like three months from now (thank you Beyond BYU 2012).  As for my weekend in NYC...... let's be honest, I just want to play with my fabulous sister! 

The majority of my summer will be spent back in Africa-- Uganda to be exact. I'll be with twenty or so other students and two professors researching everything from ethnicity to micro-saving to child soldiers.   We'll go to Rwanda to visit the Genocide Memorials there; we'll go on a safari; a couple of students and I are even hoping to go to the Refugee camps in the West. It is going to be an INCREDIBLE three months!

 

Now to get serious. I feel like I need to explain why I am going to Uganda this summer. I feel I like I owe an explanation to those people that I'm leaving-- a wonderful boy whose name rhymes with "boa", my friends and family, (heck! I even owe BYU an explanation for putting off graduation!).   

So why am I going? Because.....because....  Have you ever had something that touched you so deeply that it made an imprint on your very soul? your very eternal being?  Well, I have.  And her name is Africa. For reasons I cannot begin to comprehend, Africa is able to reach the deepest part of my soul-- the part that is normally reserved for God alone. 

Maybe it is because it was the conflict in Darfur that I first learned the power of loving strangers as children of God.  Rwanda taught me about strength and charity. Countless others have taught me about about the miracle of forgiveness.  Last summer, Ghana showed me how to hope for a better world, how to have faith.  And Uganda? My beautiful Uganda? Uganda will teach me patience. Uganda will prepare me for the future.  Uganda will steal my heart. Uganda will push me emotionally, spiritually, mentally, academically farther than I've even been... and because of that, Uganda will be the best thing that has ever happened to me. This summer will be the best thing that has ever happened to me.